Kristi Kongi's main mode of artistic expression is something everyone is aware of – color. However, as Kongi tells me at the opening of her new solo exhibition "Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo," it is also something we all experience in our own unique ways.

"We sense them differently and, of course, the light and colors change," Kongi tells me. "I want to say through color, what is important for me, and where we are at the moment in this time – and these are difficult times. But I'm actually really happy about this [exhibition], because I think that some of the ideas I was thinking about really came through."

And the ideas and emotions Kongi had in mind were certainly complex.

On the one hand, Kongi has turned the gallery space into a metaphorical "pool or a water bank" which can be viewed, or sensed, from numerous perspectives. Whether as someone standing on the outside, looking in, or "also as if you're in the water" –  it's a safe space, "a therapeutic pool to dive into."

However, water is also something Kongi tends to think about whenever she experiences anxiety.

"There are paintings which are about anxiety and really push those buttons," she tells me, adding that some of the emotions conveyed may even be "too raw."

But then there are other works here – "small paintings about the daylight or evening light, and they're like a door to the sea."  Maybe those paintings are more about hope, Kongi says.

"So, there are these very anxious paintings and then there are paintings which are more calm."

Color is not the only constant running through Kongi's work. Words too, play a pivotal role in her creative process.

"When I start working, usually I have some kind of description, which comes from daily life or just from the moments where we all are – just from experiencing these moments," Kongi says.

"The text is the first thing which starts to trigger me," she explains. Next, Kongi matches the concepts that emerge from those texts to different shapes, before working through a range of ideas and "trying to find the best way to depict them through colors."

For Kongi then, words are extremely important – something that's also evident in the titles she assigns to her works. "My Mind if Floating. Like the Sea. You See?" "The Light of the Day Transformed into the Light of Twilight. The Evening Came with Its Shadows" and, "The Beautiful Fragility of Thoughts," to name but a few.

"The Estonian language is beautiful, and I really love to use it," Kongi tells me. "And the words inside my works have a lot of meaning – always."

Nevertheless, she always gives her paintings titles in two languages – Estonian and English.

 "In Estonian, we don't have gender, but in English there is gender and sometimes I wish to point out something is a 'she' or 'he'," Kongi explains. "But actually, I love Estonian because of that – the language doesn't have any genders."

Still, she says, "I really encourage you to read the text from the curator for the show. Because this is the original, written in English."

"Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo," is Kongi's second solo exhibition at the Kogo Gallery. The opening of her previous show here "Shimmering star Magenta. Was it a dream or was it real?" in May 2021 also coincided with the onset of another Estonian spring.

Since then, Kongi has traveled far and wide to showcase her work. Last year, she opened a show in Mexico City, and a joint exhibition she created with fellow Estonian artist Tõnis Saadoja, called "Lost Summer Skies" is also currently on display in London.

"Artists need to travel, or just go somewhere," Kongi says. "Because you need to have this wider view, if that makes sense. I really love going away because I can see my works somewhere else, and then I can reflect."

For places as diverse as Estonia and Mexico, there is such a huge contrast in terms of "the light and the meaning of being there or here," Kongi says.

"But I feel it doesn't matter if I'm making the exhibition in Tartu, London or Mexico. I feel the world is small in some senses. This is the reason I like to use these universal themes, like the sky or the sea or the water, because they are everywhere."

One of the byproducts of that universality is that everyone who encounters Kongi's work has the freedom to interpret it in ways that are meaningful to them.

"For me, if I am creating something then I really need to have a concept. But actually, this is just my thing, and I am a lucky person because I can experience that through painting," Kongi says.

"But I really love it when someone comes and explains what he or she sees, or what it is that they are experiencing."

"I spend most of the time alone in my studio with my paintings," Kongi says, when I ask how she feels seeing them on display in the gallery behind us. "They are really close to me. I actually put a lot into them. Maybe this is also why it is so hard to let them go."

"But actually, I want to share them as well," she says. It's really important to give viewers the freedom to experience whatever they may feel. "Maybe someone finds something there," but, Kongi adds, "If he or she doesn't find it, then that's fine too."

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Kristi Kongi's solo exhibition "Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo" opened on May 17 at Tartu's Kogo Gallery. It will remain on display until August 3.

More information about the exhibition is available here.

Krisiti Kongi's joint exhibition "Lost Summer Skies" with Tõnis Saadoja can be seen at the Pontone Gallery in London until July 6. further details can be found here.

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